She kept planting her furry little butt on my skirt. We drew lines of compromise here.

She sure makes me more cheerful when I inevitably fuck up a simple seam, though. Lookatthatface!

The desert at 90mph.

This part of the lawn is VERY IMPORTANT.

Sometimes, I'm tempted to put fake eyelashes on my wighead.

The 300" skirt and the front tapestry panel.

There’s a story behind that tapestry–
Friend Amanda, who is making my bodice
(and regularly whips out costumes for dozens of folks
every year at Faire, ‘coz she’s a genius),
came over to my place last weekend for a shopping trip in the fabric district.

It was amazing to go down there with another veteran–
the districts in LA–fabric, fashion, jewelry, furniture, toys, floral–can be seriously intimidating if you don’t go there often.
It’s crowded, kinda dusty,
parking is a pain in the ass,
and there are so. many. things. whipping past your vision,
it’s easy to get headachey and grumpled.

We both had this moment, about ninety minutes into our trip,
where we were checking to see if the other person was okay,
because that’s uuuuusually the limit we have when we go with other folks,
and we both had to laugh, we were so fine with trucking on
for another three hours.

Plus, girl has a seriously good eye for fabrics.

This tapestry was a simultaneous spotting at Levine’s upholstery shop;
we gasped, I squeaked,
“Oh my God, can I use that?!?!”
Amanda looked at the price, and said,
“No. No, you can’t.”

…It was $24 per yard.

I normally never pay more than $5 per yard when I’m in the fabric district.

There was a great deal of hemming and hawing,
I got a swatch and carried it around for the rest of the afternoon,
and finally just had to come back and get it,
because it was SO PERFECT.

And I only needed one yard.

Shutup.

It’s totally justifiable.

And Amanda said I could! 😀

Here’s a brief glimpse of my finished top skirt–
I also finished the bottom last night.

It's this amazing tweedy mustard color--It feels like I pulled it out of a Vermeer painting.

There will be more photos–
still have to attach my waistband,
hem the panel,
attach the panel to my hoop
(oh yes, I am wearing a hoop LIKE A BOSS),
and then the fun begins with chopine construction!

It’s going to be a busy month,
but my brain and heart feel so much better
for having something creative to hold.

I feel like I’ve been walking through peanut butter.
Like I could sleep for 48 hours and still need more rest.

Went to Denver for a business trip on Monday
(my first! I’m all growed up!),
had to be up by 3:30am, to LAX by 5am,
and ready to roll into a full day of work by 10.
Wore Full Business Drag (hose, heels, pencil skirt, fancy blouse, lipstick)–
which is awfully uncomfortable,
but looks damn good on me.

It was a good trip–
the best part being the Schwanky Hotel Room.

Sometimes, ya just need to sleep on a king size bed all by yourself,
starfish style.

Friend Mary (NinjaMom!) came to see me–
we went walking through the city,
spent hours talking (not enough time),
made me dearly miss our Girl Days just after she had Jake,
and I was unemployed,
when we walked and talked all over Sierra Madre.

I miss you, friend.

Yesterday,
I went to the flower market to pick out pretties for my old student and friend’s senior vocal recital.
I am so proud of her–
when I first knew her, at 15,
she introduced me to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
We talked about TS Eliot,
boys,
literature.

…We still talk about those things.

Lauren became the woman I knew she would be–
funny, kind, lovely, gracious, mature.

I can’t wait to see you conquer the world, ‘Lo.

Roses and berries

I’ll have to get a better shot of these roses–
they’re called “Cool Water”, and I love their delicate color.

"Mad Men" is *very* important to the arranging process.

My Nitty Gritty City

That sky?
It’s the one thing that makes getting up at the buttfuck of dawn worth it.
I saw the sunrise over Los Angeles yesterday,
and it was beautiful.

See that sweet little thing?
I’ve been wanting to make it since I saw it on Pinterest about,
oh,
two months ago.

I’ve had plenty of time to swing by a store for supplies.
Plenty of time to sit at home and cut out leaves and stitch them together.

But I haven’t.

Because?

Here’s my great big theory:

Adults aren’t “supposed” to play.
We have other things that are “important” to do.

And this makes me so, so sad.

I don’t want to turn fifty and realize that I haven’t made anything in years.
I don’t want to lose the dexterity of my fingers or my mind.
I don’t want to lose my creativity, my ability to say, “Hey, I could make that!”
and actually do it.

Consequently,
I’m starting a Third Thursday Craft Night.

For whatever–
sewing, painting, needlefelt, needlepoint,
making shoe clips, hair flowers, leatherwork;
hell,
if I had a forge,
ironwork.

We all need a time to be creative.

Sometimes,
we have to make appointments with ourselves in order to make that happen.

Consider your own bad self invited.

Come make things.

(and? if you email me pictures of what you made, and a little blurb about it,
I’ll post them all here!)